Mendoza Wins Tusquets Prize

By Jessica Bermúdez -- Críticas, 12/15/2007

Mexican writer Élmer Mendoza won the 2007 Premio Tusquets Editores de Novela for his novel Quién quiere vivir para siempre (“Who Wants To Live Forever”). The winner was announced on November 27, during the 31 annual Feria Internacional del Libro (FIL) de Guadalajara. The jury, which was unanimous, was made up of Juan Marsé, Almudena Grandes, Jorge Edwards, and last year’s Tusquets prize winner, Evelio Rosero. The members highlighted the “raging modernity in the use of language, narrative structure…and the complicated rhythm which, just as the best modern classic, doesn’t give the reader a break until its end.” The prize consists of €20,000 (approximately US$29,000), a small statue by the sculptor Joaquim Camps, and the publication of the novel by the Spanish literary publishing house Tusquets.

Quién quiere vivir para siempre explores the worlds of crime and violence. According to Mendoza, who was present at the time the award was announced, three principal ingredients of the novel were “intelligence, irony, and violence.” The author, clearly overwhelmed, admitted he felt he was floating. About the book he said, “I aspire to have my readers fear dying before they finish reading.” The main character, Edgar Mendieta, alias “zurdo” (the left handed), has appeared in two of his previous tales.

Mendoza (b. Culiacán, Mexico, 1949) received international acclaim after his first novel, Un asesino solitario (“A Solitary Assassin”; Tusquets 2001). He has also won Mexico’s XVII Premio Nacional de Literatura José Fuentes Mares for El amante de Janis Joplin (“Janis Joplin’s Lover”; 2003), which established him as an innovator of Mexican narrative.

Quién quiere vivir para siempre will be published simultaneously in Spain and Latin America in spring 2008.